What a last few hours. And I just learned my brother’s favorite race driver, and thus one of mine, Dan Gurney, died at the age of 86. Much more on this great American’s life next time. But understand for now, Dan Gurney was truly one of the best all-around drivers of his generation. He did it all. My family loved the guy.

NFL Quiz: So awhile back, Johnny Mac said he was scrolling through profootballreference.com and, don’t ask me why, he came across the 1957 Steelers page, Pittsburgh going 6-6 that season. What is interesting is that they had three quarterbacks on their roster, ages 23, 22 and 22, who would go on to very solid NFL careers, just not with Pittsburgh. Bobby Layne would take over in 1958, and then you had the likes of Ed Brown, Kent Nix, Bill Nelsen, Rudy Bukich and Dick Shiner, before Terry Bradshaw finally emerged in 1970.

So who were these three 1957 quarterbacks who would go on to play until 1976, 1969 and 1975 in the NFL, two of them appearing in Super Bowls, the other winning an AFL championship. Answer below.

NFL Playoffs

Next Sunday....

Jacksonville at New England [Drat! Early forecast is for 50 degrees! This sucks.]

Despite being underdogs as a No. 1 seed because it was backup QB Nick Foles vs. the experience of Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Falcons 15-10 to move into the NFC championship game on Saturday.

Eagles kicker Jake Elliott, who had missed an extra point, was three-of-three on field goals, as Philly, down 10-9 at half, prevailed behind a defense that largely shut down Ryan, who was a mediocre 22/36, 210, 1-0, 86.6.

As for Nick Foles, the guy is a hero this week in Philly and for good reason. The weather conditions weren’t easy, witness that dying duck first pass of his, but he went on to play spectacularly well, 23/30, 246, 0-0, 100.1, given all the circumstances and pressure.

The Eagles outgained the Falcons 334-281, but did lose two fumbles, while Atlanta managed zippo after taking a 10-6 lead with 5:41 to play in the second quarter on a Ryan to Devonta Freeman touchdown pass.

In the end, though, Philadelphia’s defense had to stage a last-minute goal-line stand after Ryan did manage to drive his team 74 yards to the Philly two, at which point on fourth-down he misfired with receiver Julio Jones.

Jones made no excuses for not coming up with what would have been the game-winning catch in the final moments of the game.

With the ball on the Eagles’ 2-yard line, Jones slipped to the ground after what may have been a push by Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills. Jones managed to get back on his feet but failed to make a play on Ryan’s floating pass.

Jones said in part after: “I ended up on the ground when I came out of my route. And that’s a tough call [for the official] to make during that situation in the game. That was it.”

But get this. Ryan was 1-of-18 on passes to Jones in the end zone this season, after going 3-for-8 last season. [ESPN Stats & Information.]

In Saturday’s nightcap...the Patriots moved to 18-3 in the postseason in the Tom/Bill era, 35-14 winners over the Titans in a contest that many believe would have been much tighter had two key calls not gone against Tennessee.

The Titans shocked the Pats early on a touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota to Corey Davis, Davis making a spectacular one-handed grab in the end zone, but then New England rattled off 35 straight.

The thing is it was 7-7, the Titans driving, when Mariota zipped one to receiver Eric Decker for a conversion on third-and-14 deep in New England territory, only Decker was called for pass interference on Pats corner Malcolm Butler, a totally bogus call as Tony Romo said at the time.

And there was an awful encroachment call that gave the Pats a first down when they were preparing to punt, which Brady turned into a touchdown, and Titans fans have reason to be more than a bit torqued off. Momentum is everything and when Brady turned the penalty into Pats 21, Titans 7, it was ballgame over.

For the record, Mariota passed for 254 yards, two touchdowns, and a 98.3 rating, while Brady was 35/53, 337, 3-0, 102.5; Danny Amendola with 11 receptions for 102 yards for New England.

Tom Brady dispelled any queasy feelings Pats fans had after a poor December when in five games he threw just six touchdowns with five interceptions.

Yup, it’s that time of year, postseason, and as the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay put it:

“Bill Belichick is America’s most famous Grumpy Lobster Boat Captain, and January is his favorite time to collect his traps.”

On to Sunday....

Scads will be written about the Steelers losing at home to the Jaguars, 45-42, and how overly cocky Pittsburgh was going in, led by coach Mike Tomlin. Let’s just say Tomlin in most organizations would be out of a job tomorrow, but with the Steelers, they value stability and with the uncertainty over Ben Roethlisberger’s future, Tomlin will be around one more year.

Otherwise, he deserves to be fired. Since losing the Super Bowl in 2010, he’s 3-5 in the playoffs with some godawful play-calling. Yes, offensive coordinator Todd Haley made two fourth-and-one calls that were beyond idiotic today, costing Pittsburgh dearly, but Tomlin is still the major domo. Only in his case he’s proved more often than not to be Major Dumbo.

Forget being a Steelers fan, if you just follow football, those two fourth-and-ones were as bad as it gets. And then you had the decision to attempt an offsides kick late when you had plenty of time to get the ball back with 1:30 or so to play for the tying score.

I’ll have more on this one next time, for the record, but for now I do have to note that Steve G.’s Jags and quarterback Blake Bortles were simply the better team. Forget that Pittsburgh outgained Jacksonville 545-378. That’s as deceiving as it comes.

Bortles was solid. 14/26, 214, 1-0, 94.1, plus 35 yards rushing on five carries. Leonard Fournette had 109 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, setting the tone early with smashmouth runs.

For the Steelers, Roethlisberger ended up with 469 yards and five TDs, but in the end it’s like, “whatever.” Antonio Brown’s spectacular receptions (7-132-2) going to waste, ditto tight end Vance McDonald’s 10-112.

Personally, I think the play of the Jags’ second back, T.J. Yeldon, was key...he only had 20 yards rushing on five carries, and a touchdown, but he had another 57 on three receptions and it seemed the eight times he touched it were critical. He’d get one of my game balls for sure.

And how can I ignore Wake Forest’s Tommy Bohanon, who had the deciding 14-yard TD reception out of his fullback slot. Go Deacs!

And then we had New Orleans at Minnesota. I was totally disinterested watching this one as Minnesota built up a 17-0 halftime lead.

At this point I watched some local news, then the Knicks (see below), then national news....

Oh, I was paying attention to the game online...but then I watched the first two stories on “60 Minutes,” while attempting to proof this monstrous column, and then I realized, ‘Holy s---,’ this one requires my undivided attention.

Stefan Diggs, in an amazing last gasp play just to get in field goal range, snags a pass from Case Keenum and, when the Saints’ d-backs fail to just push him out of bounds (let alone figure out where they are on the field), Diggs goes prancing down the sideline for the score and the game-winner...a play, a game, for the ages.

Minnesota wins, 29-24...but in the celebration after, the Vikings, required by the NFL to kick the extra point, even with no time, eventually line up and take a knee.

Only the line was 5 ½. So fitting for this unreal ending.

Four lead changes the last three minutes. Again, more next chat.

--As for the Giants’ search for a head coach, by all accounts it’s down to New England coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, and Minnesota’s offensive coordinator Pay Shurmur, though all three are also up for other head-coaching positions; namely McDaniels and the Colts, Patricia and the Lions, and Shurmur and the Panthers.

Tonight, it seems Patricia is heading to Detroit and McDaniels to Indy.

--Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post had a piece on the latest Gallup poll released this week on the popularity of American sports and despite the NFL’s falling ratings and concussion issues, football remains America’s most popular spectator sport by a large margin; 37 percent saying it is their favorite sport to watch. Granted this is down from its all-time high of 43 percent in 2006 and 2007, but it is still far ahead of basketball (11 percent) and baseball (9 percent).

What’s worrisome is baseball fell below double-digits for the first time since the survey was first taken in 1937, and now is barely ahead of soccer (7 percent...an all-time high for it and up 4 points since the last poll in 2013).

This is kind of a strange survey in that it doesn’t seem fair to baseball, which is every day for six+ months, while football is once a week for basically four months. And golf is once a week for essentially nine+ months. I don’t know how I’d answer it myself. Football is my favorite spectator sport, I guess, but I don’t miss a single Mets game, nor a golf tournament, including minor ones.

Plus there is a difference between college football (which I prefer) over the NFL, and college basketball (which I prefer big time) over the NBA.

And then when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around, and my Rangers are in it, well that gets my full attention over anything else that particular day.

So I say again, I’m not so sure about the survey’s conclusions and if it’s as meaningful as it appears.

College Basketball Review...since last chat

Wednesday....

No. 1 Villanova beat 10 Xavier 89-65 in Philadelphia, a bad loss for the Musketeers, who dropped to 15-3, the Wildcats 15-1.

2 West Virginia (15-2) lost at 8 Texas Tech (15-2) 72-71. It’s a tough conference, boys and girls. No shame in Morgantown.

4 Michigan State lost its second in three games, in East Lansing, 82-72 to Michigan (15-4). Could have been three straight if it hadn’t eked by Rutgers.

Your Bar Chat “Pick to Click” for the national title, 5 Wichita State, just got by Tulsa (10-8) 72-69 in a tough road win...the Shockers now 15-2.

7 Duke (15-2) defeated Wake Forest (8-9) 89-71 in a game that wasn’t watchable after the first 10 minutes or so. There’s a groundswell developing to fire Danny Manning, but it just isn’t going to happen with a supposed big recruiting class coming in. The thing is we have some decent players, but as a team they blow. And there is also no doubt it is a totally different story if big man Dinos Mitoglou hadn’t decided to stay in Greece this summer and sign a pro contract to play there, rather than go back to Winston-Salem for his senior year as he had assured Manning was going to be the case.

Anyway, Saturday, for Duke Marvin Bagley III had his usual 30 points, 11 rebounds, while Grayson Allen had a bizarre game...37 minutes, 0 for 5 from the field, 2 points, but 12 rebounds and 8 assists.

Coach K wasn’t on the bench, the victim of flu, and associate head coach Jeff Capel was in charge.

9 Oklahoma beat 16 TCU (13-4) in Norman, 102-97 in overtime, the Sooners now 14-2, as freshman phenom Trae Young broke out of his mini-shooting slump to go 15 of 27 from the field, 10 of 18 from three! 43 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Yes, the Steph Curry comparisons are totally accurate.

10 Xavier rebounded from its loss to Villanova, beating 25 Creighton (14-4) 92-70 at home, the Musketeers now 16-3.

13 Seton Hall rebounded from its debacle at Marguette on Tuesday to beat Georgetown (12-5) at home, the Pirates 15-3.

I watched the last ten minutes of Oregon (12-6) and 17 Arizona (14-4) because once I stumbled on it and saw Bill Walton was doing the telecast, I had to stay with it. I am a shameless Walton fan, but because he only does Pac 12 games, I’m obviously not up for them during the week.

Arizona won 90-83, behind stars Allonzo Trier, 25 points, and looming top five draft pick, center Deandre Ayton, 24, but I had to jot down some Walton quotes as he talked about “the conference of champions” only about 15 times in a short period of time, which I just find a hoot (but I understand how others may not like his schtick).

I mean in just three minutes, we had:

“The creativity of the Ducks here...fly on the wings of your own...”

“Conference of champions...Sonoran Desert...El Jefe...” (El Jefe being a jaguar that has been spotted nearby on camera)

“We are rewriting the story of Deandre and the history of the world...”

Referring to a coach at another school in the conference getting in trouble for bitching at the refs: “If you don’t complain you’ll never get positive change....MLK’s march on Washington...”

As Allonzo Trier made a good play: “I’ve been waiting to see leadership...go beyond failure!”

“What a physique...Elijah Brown (Oregon) played for Butler, then New Mexico, but the fifth year senior wanted to play for the Conference of Champions....”

One more game from Saturday...No. 19 Clemson rebounded from its loss to N.C. State with a 72-63 home win over 18 Miami (13-3), the Tigers 15-2.

Sunday....

3 Virginia (16-1) beat N.C. State 68-51. The Cavaliers....wow....

NBA

--I can’t help but note Toronto’s dismantling of Cleveland (26-15) 133-99, Thursday, the Raptors advancing to 29-11. But as they said after, if the two met in the playoffs, it would be a different story...frustrated Toronto fans, among the best, if not the best, in the league, knowing all too well what happens in the postseason.

[Toronto then had a crushing loss at home to the Warriors (35-9) on Saturday, 127-125.]

--Marc Berman / New York Post

“Call him Mr. November.

“The Knicks have a lot of issues, but none more concerning than what to make about Kristaps Porzingis’ third straight post-Christmas decline.

“The entire franchise is built upon Porzingis becoming a superstar for the ages, contending for greatest-Knick-ever status. And while he should become a perennial All-Star, the franchise needs him to be more than Paul Gasol – or Paul Millsap.

“The Knicks (19-23) are losing now not because Porzingis doesn’t have enough help. They’re losing because he isn’t doing enough.

“The 7-foot-3 Latvian has not played like an All-Star since December, hitting another wall. His recent ‘so tired’ remark in Washington will be cited until the 22-year-old snaps out of this post-November funk.

“Porzingis’ core strength, stamina and genetic makeup are relevant issues, with a third straight fade after brilliant play in October and November. During his rookie year, it was revealed he had been diagnosed with anemia during his Spanish League days. Porzingis took iron to combat the ensuing fatigue and still does....

“Since December, Porzingis is shooting just 39.4 percent to bring his shooting percentage down to a middling 43.2 percent, his scoring average to 23.6. Symbolically or not, Carmelo Anthony, in his final season as a Knick, shot 43.3 percent – a number that was unpleasing to (coach Jeff) Hornacek.”

Frankly, what Berman can’t write is that the guy has flat-out sucked. You have to watch him every day to fully understand this, but he’s been failing to hustle back on defense, he’s slow to recognize defenses, and he’s become just like Anthony...a jump shooter...only at 7-foot-3!

There are actually some NBA scouts who believe backup center Willy Hernangomez has more talent than Porzingis (but Hernangomez, who has posted some big numbers in the past when given the opportunity, doesn’t know what defense is).

Friday, the Knicks lost at Minnesota 118-108, the T’Wolves, my favorite to surprise Golden State in the playoffs, now 28-16. While the Knicks welcomed back Tim Hardaway Jr., Porzingis was lousy again, 6 of 19 from the field, 17 points.

Also Friday, Indiana handed Cleveland its third straight loss, 97-85, the Cavs blowing an early 32-10 lead.

Well today, Sunday, the Knicks lost yet again, now 10 of 12, four straight at home, 123-118 to New Orleans in overtime. It was beyond pathetic, the Knicks up 14 entering the fourth quarter and getting outscored 27-13 to send it into OT. Porzingis was 10 of 24, 25 points. The Pelicans’ Anthony Davis 17 of 30, 48 points and 17 rebounds.

I flipped this game on for overtime, having followed it on the net, and Mike Breen and Walt“Clyde” Frazier were apoplectic after.

Breen: “This is a loss that will make Knicks fans sick to their stomachs.”

Clyde: “Losing to a team that didn’t want to be here (by the way they were playing early).”

Breen: “Inexcusable loss, Clyde.”

Clyde: “I think they are in denial if they think they are close.”

Breen: “It’s the most crushing loss of the season.”

And now the Knicks go on the road for seven straight, starting at Brooklyn tomorrow for MLK Day.

MLB

What a glacial free-agent season it’s been. Us Mets fans, though, were pleased to see GM Sandy Alderson sign a former friend, Jay Bruce, for three years, $39 million, after Bruce had played well for the Metropolitans last season before being traded to Cleveland. You get 30 homers and 90 RBIs out of Bruce every season. You don’t care about the batting average. He just does a solid job and we know he can play in New York.

But, more broadly speaking, as the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner points out, not only do we have three Kansas City Royals regulars – Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain – still available in free agency, we also have the likes of J.D. Martinez (best slugging percentage in baseball last season); Yu Darvish; Jake Arrieta; and star closer Greg Holland.

As Mike Stanton, former reliever and union representative, told Kepner: “This has been coming for six, seven, eight years. Free agency gets pushed back and pushed back because teams know once you get closer to spring training, prices are going to come down. Eventually, players want a team to play for. There’s pressure from home, from friends, all around, to figure out where you’re going to go.”

Stanton doesn’t like what he sees, though he’s not about to use the word collusion.

I just agree with those who say GMs are becoming far smarter. No one in their mid-30s, for example, is going to get a big deal after all the experience of bad ones in that situation, for example. And you’re not likely to see extensive deals for pitchers anymore.

But the true test case is next offseason with the likes of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and, potentially, Clayton Kershaw.

Meanwhile, Friday, 145 players agreed to one-year contracts rather than go to arbitration with their teams. Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson agreed to a $23 million contract, the largest one-year deal ever for an arbitration-eligible player. Donaldson had 33 homers and 78 RBIs in just 113 games last season as he was hampered by injuries early on.

For the Cubs, Kris Bryant settled with the team for $10.85 million, the most for a first time arbitration-eligible player. Bryant had 29 homers and drove in a disappointing 73 last year when he made $1.05 million. The year before he was NL MVP as the Cubbies won the World Series.

-Back to my Metsies, they made another move I like, signing former All-Star and Gold Glove first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to a one-year contract, contingent upon him passing a physical. Gonzalez will turn 36 but he’ll be a good alternative if prospect Dominic Smith can’t show more than he did last season in a call-up.

Gonzalez appeared in only 71 games last season for the Dodgers, battling injuries, and he was displaced by Cody Bellinger, who went on to become Rookie of the Year.

But in 2016, Gonzalez played 156 games and hit .285 with 18 homers and 90 ribbies. Mets fans would gladly take .270, 15-75, with solid fielding if Smith isn’t the answer. [And Jay Bruce can play first as well.]

I’m guessing Gonzalez plays a lot, and that Smith plays the bulk of the year at AAA.

--As for the crosstown rival Yankees, they lost out on 27-year-old Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole, who was traded to the Astros for four players, three of whom have major league experience.

Let me be in the minority in saying the Pirates fleeced the Astros. Understand, while Cole was highly sought this offseason, his only dominant season was his 19-8, 2.60 ERA campaign in 2015 and since then he has been either injured or underwhelming, going 12-12, 4.26 last season. I totally get why Houston did this, hoping to unlock Cole’s true potential, like they did with another former Pirate, Charlie Morton, but I think Pittsburgh fans will be pleased with this one.

As for the Yanks, they thought Cole might be the final piece to completing a rotation, but Pittsburgh rightfully wanted one of New York’s top prospects and the Yanks balked, correctly so.

Yankee fans, don’t fret. You’ll be just fine...think Chance Adams, who I imagine is throwing at the big league level by end of May.

--Ken P. alerted me to a passing I had missed, from Dec. 28; Al Luplow, former outfielder for the Indians, Mets and Pirates who died at the age of 78.

In seven seasons, 1961-67, Luplow batted .235, but in ’62 with Cleveland, he had 14 homers and 45 RBIs, batting .277 in just 318 at-bats, though this was his best season. He did hit .251 with 7 homers and 31 ribbies for the Mets in 1966.

But it was on Aug. 17, 1967, that Luplow, playing right field for the Pirates, was part of one of my first vivid baseball memories, arguing whether a ball was fair or foul down the right-field line as the Mets’ Bud Harrelson circled the bases for an inside-the-park homerun. It’s funny what you remember sometimes. I even recall our family had just returned from dinner at a local pizza joint when I flipped on the black & white TV in our living room to see this.

Luplow is most famous, though, for a catch in 1963, when while playing the outfield for the Indians, he robbed the Red Sox’ Dick Williams of a home run at Fenway Park; Luplow breaking for the ball, leaping after hitting the warning track, and clearing the five-foot wall in front of the Red Sox bullpen, backhanding the ball and crashing to the earth below.

“I felt the warning track, so I was definitely aware of the wall. But I guess I’d just made up my mind to catch the ball,” Luplow shared with Sports Illustrated on Oct. 14, 1985. “It was actually over the fence when I caught it, and I just barely touched the fence with my right knee going over.

“After I caught the ball, I said, ‘Uh oh!’ If I’d kept going face first, I would have really hurt myself. I think my football background helped me.”

It was said that Luplow, growing up in Saginaw, Michigan and playing football as well as baseball at Michigan State, could have played in the NFL if he had focused solely on that sport.

--Finally, we note the passing of second-generation bat-retrieving golden retriever Derby, who plied his trade with the Trenton Thunder AA team (Yankees).

Derby made headlines nationwide and was featured on ESPN for entertaining crowds by grabbing bats at home plate during games. He was 20 days shy of his 10th birthday.

I’ve seen Derby in action at my one Thunder game a year I attend. Thank you, Denise D., for passing this along, the two of us sharing a love for Black Bear hot dogs (and happy hour beer), featured at Thunder games.

“Chase,” by the way, was the original bat dog, and Derby was part of a litter from Chase in 2008.

Golf Balls

--Befitting this absolutely crazy day, Patton Kizzire and James Hahn are in a playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii and I must move on before it’s final.

--Rory McIlroy said in an interview with the Telegraph that doctors had discovered an irregularity with his heart.

“I have a flat T-wave and I’ll have to get an echo [cardiogram] on my heart every six months and an MRI scan ever year,” McIlroy told the paper. “I suffered a really bad viral infection in China 18 months ago, and they told me that’s the reason that I have this thickening of my left ventricle and there’s a bit of scar tissue. For now, I just need to stay on top of it and have to stay fit. Hey, I was planning on doing that anyway.”

McIlroy, after four months off, is playing two events in Dubai before returning to the PGA Tour at Pebble Beach.

Premier League

It’s been one busy stretch for the PL, with the holiday schedule, and then FA Cup play, but league action resumed this weekend.

Saturday, Chelsea and Leicester played to a 0-0 draw, while Crystal Palace had a big 1-0 win over Burnley, Palace no longer having to worry about relegation.

West Ham whipped Huddersfield 4-1; Swansea picked up a point in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle; West Brom had a huge 4-0 win over Brighton; and my Tottenham Spurs destroyed Everton 4-0 at Wembley, Harry Kane with another two goals, making it 20 on the season. He also now has 98 Premier League goals, most in a Spurs uniform, and in just 135 games.

Then Sunday, I watched some of Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Arsenal, an awful loss for the Gunners and their hopes for a top four Champions League berth.

But I totally forgot Liverpool was hosting Manchester City, swept up in news coverage and, frankly, trying to get this column done. Dr. W. wrote to make sure I saw it...doh! Liverpool ended City’s unbeaten streak 4-3. It was 4-1 at Anfield until two late goals made it a contest.

Congratulations to manager Jurgen Klopp, in the Reds’ first game since losing star Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona. Klopp is one of the more likable figures in his sport and got a break for uttering an F-word on NBC Sports after the contest.

I’ll review the standings next time after Manchester United’s Monday contest against Stoke.

Keith Jackson, RIP

Just three weeks after losing broadcasting legend Dick Enberg, we lost another, Keith Jackson, who died Friday at the age of 89.

Jackson, who retired in 2006, spent 50 years calling the action of college football and other sports in a folksy, down-to-earth manner that made him one of the best play-by-play in the business.

Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company: “For generations of fans, Keith Jackson was college football. When you heard his voice, you knew it was a big game. Keith was a true gentleman and a memorable presence.”

Jackson got his start on the radio in 1952, working Washington State games, but then went on to provide the national television soundtrack for the biggest games in the sport, popularizing expressions such as “Whoa, Nellie,” and “Big Uglies,” along the way. He was credited with nicknaming the Rose Bowl “The Granddaddy of Them All” and Michigan’s stadium “The Big House.”

Bob Griese, who worked with Jackson starting in 1985, said when asked what he’d most remember: “That big smiling face, and just the thrill and the love he had for doing college football.”

“He did it for a long, long time. ...He never intruded on the game. It was always about the kids on the field. Never, never shining the light on himself. And that was one of the things that I most admired about him.”

As a fan of Jackson’s, that’s the perfect description of the man.

Jackson began calling college football games for ABC Sports in 1966 after it acquired the broadcast rights, and he also worked NFL and NBA games, 11 World Series, 10 Winter and Summer Olympics and auto racing, as well as traveling to 31 countries for “Wide World of Sports.”

Jackson was also the first play-by-play voice of “Monday Night Football” when that program debuted in 1970, and he called Bucky Dent’s home run against the Red Sox in 1978, and Reggie Jackson’s three homer game in the 1977 World Series.

Jackson’s final college football game was the 2006 Rose Bowl, and talk about going out in thrilling style, that was the national title showdown between USC and Texas that saw Vince Young and the Longhorns prevail over USC and its two Heisman Trophy winners, Matt Leinhart and Reggie Bush, with 19 seconds remaining. He also did Kordell Stewart’s Hail Mary in the 1994 “Miracle at Michigan,” Desmond Howard’s “Hello Heisman” moment in 1991 for Michigan, plus “Wide Right I” and “Wide Right II” in the Florida State-Miami rivalry.

He was inducted into the American Sportscasters Hall of Fame in 1994, and he received the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award from the American Football Coaches Association. He was also named the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association “National Sportscaster of the Year” five times.

Jackson was born on Oct. 18, 1928, in Roopville, Georgia – near the Alabama state line. He spent four years in the Marine Corps before attending Washington State and graduating with a broadcast journalism degree.

Back to “Whoa Nellie!”, Jackson said frequently it was “overrated.” “There were all kinds of stories going around. People said I had a mule in Georgia named Nellie. Well, we had a mule in Georgia, but her name was Pearl.”

But despite his protests, Jackson did proclaim “Whoa Nellie!” in a beer commercial late in his career.

Jackson was so entrenched at ABC that the network wouldn’t let him retire the first time he announced he was doing so in 1998. Then 70, he said he was tired of getting on airplanes. [He came back because the network kept in the Pacific time zone, close to his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home.]

He did get roundly criticized once – unfairly, he said – for ignoring an ugly incident late in the 1978 Gator Bowl game (which was the fifth-best bowl contest back in the day), when Ohio State coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman after Bauman had intercepted a pass near the Ohio State sideline. Jackson later said the sideline was crowded with players and officials and he didn’t see the punch. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1999:

“If people go back and listen, I said, ‘Let’s look at the tape and see what happened.’ But we didn’t see the tape because the network was nickel-and-diming the operation at that time with a bunch of green kids and the tape was in New York, which did not feed to us in the booth. I saw [the punch] for the first time at noon the next day on NBC.” [Mike Kupper and Mike DiGiovanna / Los Angeles Times]

Jackson lived in the same home on a quiet cul-de-sac for some 50 years. He had views of the San Fernando Valley that, on a clear day, allowed him to see the Rose Bowl. He was last at the Rose Bowl in 2016, attending USC-Penn State.

Darryl Dunn, the Rose Bowl general manager who grew close to Jackson, said, “He was a John Wayne type – he told his old war stories, and it was priceless, because it was Keith Jackson.

Jackson’s passion outside broadcasting was golf and he was a frequent partner of Bob Hope and Vin Scully at the Los Angeles Country Club. He played in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 2009 at the age of 80.

How good was he? He said at his best a four-handicapper, but at age 80, he shot 78 on the L.A. Country Club’s North Course, said to be very difficult.

Chuck Culpepper / Washington Post

“Sunday died in April 2013; now Saturday has gone along with it. Maybe they’re huddled together in some football heaven.

“For just as the spare, reassuring voice of Pat Summerall meant it must be Sunday and it must be autumn and it must be near daylight saving time, the frenzied, reassuring voice of Keith Jackson meant it must be Saturday. It must be randy, rowdy, rollicking Saturday. The weekend must be underway. The nerves must feel at leisure. The crisp air must be on the way.

“Hear the eternally pleasing voice of Jackson and you might close your eyes and see the leaves turning outdoors even while you remain on the sofa. Hear the voice of Jackson, and you might know the football situation on the television called for gravitas, even if the unpretentious voice did manage to arrive at gravitas without trying. Hear that voice, and every American region seemed contained somewhere within it, from the boyhood on a Georgia farm near the Alabama line to the longtime residence in Los Angeles to all the chronic alighting everywhere in between....

“Hear the voice, and you might know you’re shirking an errand, and you might not care.

“The voice took a technical game of stupefying moments and 100,000-strong crowds and distilled it to its humanity. Jackson would call a game in the Midwest yet give a score from Arkansas vs. Mississippi and say, ‘Them Hogs and Rebels’ve been fightin’ down there a loooong time.’ He would call a UCLA quarterback throwing a late bomb on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum floor by blaring, as the ball launched upward, ‘throws it just as far as he can throw it...’ In a first quarter, he would introduce an offensive line, maybe Nebraska’s, and refer to some 280-pounder as ‘the runt’ of the bunch. He would forgive a compromised running game by commending the defense as like ‘sticking your head into a sausage factory.’ After a time, he would change how you viewed games, would keep you staring at blasé games just to hear what the voice might yield next.

“That would be Jackson’s entire call of the last touchdown he would call, Texas’ final offensive play with 30 seconds left and a 38-33 deficit in the unreasonably good 2006 Rose Bowl, with that ‘r’ in ‘corner’ held through part of Young’s diagonal fourth-down trek from the Southern California 8-yard line to the pylon at the front-right corner of the end zone. That came just after ABC ran a graphic of the longest winning streaks ever – because USC stood sixth with 34 at that moment – and just after Yale appeared twice on the list, from the 1890s, and Dan Fouts said, ‘Nobody wanted to play Yale back then,’ and Jackson said, ‘Noooooo! Don’t jab a finger at that bunch. They’d beatcha up.’

“Then, as Texas and USC lined up for one of the most serious plays in the game’s history, the voice reminded us it also wasn’t that serious, simply by saying, ‘I’m too old for this.’....

“Good night, Mr. Jackson. And thanks. Thanks for making life so much better than it would have been without you.”

Jackson’s wife, Turi Ann, survives him. They met while he was at Washington State. Yet another example of the kind of man he was; the two being together all this time.

All-Species List

Lots of developments in recent days. None of which are good for ‘Man.’

From Sarah Lazarus / South China Morning Post:

“The international trade in illegal wildlife parts has another victim. Over the past five years, there has been an explosion in demand for the ‘red ivory’ of an Asian bird – the helmeted hornbill.

“Helmeted hornbill products sell for three to five times the price of elephant ivory. Their value has triggered a boom in poaching, sending the bird plunging towards extinction. Although it has been listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) since the 1970s – which means the trade is illegal – the helmeted hornbill is much sought after on the black market, and Post Magazine has discovered that Hong Kong plays a key role in the unfolding tragedy.”

Look up pictures of this bird. It’s way cool.

“The helmeted hornbill lives in remnant pockets of lowland rainforest in Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand and the southern tip of Myanmar. A large, bonkers-looking bird, with a featherless, wrinkly neck, and striking, black-and-white tail feathers, it’s dramatic call – think of the cackling laughter of a horror film maniac – was once a common sound in the rainforest.”

The “helmet” for the bird is a solid lump, tracing along the top of the bill and up into the skull, a lump called the casque. The casque is incredibly hard, having evolved because of the male birds’ habit of engaging in aerial head-butting contests.

Sarah Lazarus:

“Two combatants perch on different trees, take flight, and hurtle towards each other until they bang heads, producing a loud cracking noise. The jousts can go on for hours.”

Goodness gracious. And get this:

“Scientists are unsure whether (the birds) are competing for access to fruit trees or to females, but one theory suggests that the boys butt heads for longer when they have eaten too many alcohol-laced fermented figs.”

Boy, I sure hope you have newfound respect for the helmeted hornbill as I do. But the Chinese who are poaching it carve the casque up into miniature scenes for belt buckles, seals, figurines, snuff boxes, bracelets and other items.

Local hunters are paid $20 per gram by Chinese interests.

Separately, from The Economist:

“Humans bear the brunt of war. But other creatures get caughtin the crossfire. During Mozambique’s bloody civil war from 1977 to 1992, giraffe and elephant herds in the Gorongosa national park shrank by more than 90%. Between 1983 and 1995, while the Lord’s Resistance Army terrorized Uganda, topi and roan, two species of antelope, were wiped out completely in the country’s Pian Upe reserve.”

On the other hand, elephant numbers rebounded when war-torn Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) became too perilous for poachers in the 1970s.

Researchers Rob Pringle and Joshua Daskin, ecologists at Princeton and Yale Universities, released an extensive study on populations of large herbivores in protected areas across Africa from 1946 to 2010, published this week in Nature. The bottom line, peace is still better than war for the Animal Kingdom.

--Meanwhile, ‘Red Fox,’ No. 19 on the ASL, will be moving up when I release a new top ten list come Monday night. George R., a major proponent of the fox, reminded me that I needed to take Australians’ grumbling that it’s an invasive species with a grain of salt. Or more precisely, acknowledge that the Red Fox is a major defense in Australia against highly-destructive ‘grain mice,’ No. 297 on the ASL. I did some research on this topic and it’s true, grain mice have been particularly destructive in South Australia just recently.

--In Oak Ridge, N.C. this week, a 39-year-old tractor trailer driver, Devin L., fell asleep at the wheel, went off the road and hit a shoulder before overturning. The driver was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries; charged with careless/reckless driving.

I bring the story up because the tractor trailer was loaded with turkeys, many of which were killed.

‘Man’ will drop another few notches because of this.

--Finally, I forgot to mention a story last time that will have a major, major impact on the next ASL top ten. My brother alerted me to the tale of the humpback whale that saved a diver from a shark.

To wit...from Alina Polianskaya of the U.K.’s Independent:

“The moment a 25-ton humpback whale pushed (the diver) to safety from a 15-foot tiger shark was captured on camera.

“Biologist Nan Hauser was swimming off the coast of Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, when the giant creature swam in to prevent a ‘potentially deadly’ attack.

“She said the encounter may be proof of a whale’s intuitive nature to protect other species, including humans.

“She believes this has never been captured on video before and could be the first ever documented case of a humpback whale guarding a human from a shark.

“The giant whale tucked the 63-year-old under its pectoral fin and pushed her along with his head and mouth for around 10 minutes, she said.

“She later realized that the 15-foot-tiger shark was nearby, and that the whale was steering her away from it. She had initially thought it was another whale until she realized it was moving its tail from side to side rather than up and down, she said.

“ ‘I’ve spent the past 28 years protecting whales, and in the moment, I didn’t even realize that they were protecting me,’ she added.”

Ms. Hauser admitted after that she wasn’t sure it still wouldn’t end up being a deadly encounter for her.

“I wasn’t sure what the whale was up to when he approached me, and it didn’t stop pushing me around for over 10 minutes. It seemed like hours....

“I’ve spent 28 years underwater with whales, and have never had a whale so tactile and so insistent on putting me on his head, or belly, or back, or, most of all, trying to tuck me under his huge pectoral fin.”

I’m going with the angle the whale was protecting Ms. Hauser...and humpback whale is about to be hugely rewarded. And we ain’t just talking extra krill.

Stuff

--Mikaela Shiffrin is totally dominating the FIS World Alpine season, with her win total now up to 10 as she has taken a number of slaloms and giant slaloms since I last reported on the campaign. Her overall World Cup points lead is at this point virtually insurmountable, barring injury.

We do have a ton of action prior to the Olympics and I’ll keep up with her better until then.

As for the U.S. men...not one freakin’ podium finish all season. Ergo, don’t look to them in terms of ‘must-see TV’ from PyeongChang.

Then again, this is when a “Wild Bill” Johnson could emerge. [Shocking winner of the downhill in 1984 at Sarajevo.]

--The Vegas Golden Knights fought back against claims filed by the Department of the Army with the United States Trademark and Patent Office, that the Army has a trademark on the name “Golden Knights” in connection with its parachute team, dating back “at least” as far as 1969; the Army claiming it would be “damaged” by the NHL team’s trademark registration because that would “be likely to cause confusion, mistake or to deceive consumers, with consequent injury to [the Army] and the public.”

Las Vegas majority owner, Bill Foley, is a West Point graduate who has spoken openly of taking inspiration from the Army for his new squad’s name and look.

Foley “even attempted to name the...hockey team the ‘Black Knights,’” the name used by the Army’s sports teams, the filing claimed, which is not exactly accurate, according to Foley, who has said he opted not to use “Black Knights” because there is “already a Blackhawks in the league.”

But I agree with what the Vegas Golden Knights said in their counter statement, “We strongly dispute the Army’s allegations that confusion is likely between the Army Golden Knights parachute team and the Vegas Golden Knights major-league hockey team.”

The Army’s move, with all due respect, is stupid. If this was such an issue, why not bring it up far earlier? It’s now been a year since the Golden Knights name was out there and only now it becomes an issue?

I mean the Army is also taking issue with the Golden Knights’ color scheme, which features black and gold. Oh brother. Gee, I went to a school that has then been copying Army all these years as well.

Or were we first? Is Army ripping off Wake Forest?! [Just kidding, Black Knights!]

--Author Alan Pell Crawford / Wall Street Journal

“It was along the rail at Maryland’s Laurel Park that I first met Sergei Tolstoy, a great-grandson of the man who wrote ‘War and Peace.’ A count, he had a distinguished – if thinning – bloodline. Silver-haired and spry, he was tiny. At least he appeared so next to a forbiddingly colossal sidekick he referred to only as ‘my driver.’ Sergei’s companion might have been Samoan but didn’t say so. He didn’t say much of anything, while Sergei was always eager to tell you which horse would win the next race.

“I wish I had spent more time with Sergei, his driver and the other characters around the paddock. Nowhere will you meet more companionable people than at a racetrack’s rail. These species might be the most democratic patches of ground left in America. Here class and status – not to mention race, gender or sexual preference – mean nothing. If you want the real diversity, come to a racetrack.”

Mr. Crawford, though, goes on to bemoan how so many of America’s tracks are disappearing, a depressing fact.

“(I am) concerned for what all this means for American society. The U.S. is a republic but also a democracy. The decline of the racetrack subculture – and its inherently democratic nature – does not portend well for a country shaken with social tensions.”

Sociologist Kate Fox’s “The Racing Tribe: Portrait of a British Subculture” (1999) “looks at one of the few places where good-natured conviviality and a genuine sense of community remain the rule and not the exception. That it’s England she writes about only underscores the point. Brits, after all, tend to be stuffier people than Americans.” [Crawford]

Ms. Fox adds: “(Racegoers) seem happy to make eye contact with each other. And when obvious strangers made eye contact, they did not immediately glance away, in accordance with the normal laws of crowd behavior. Instead, the standard response seems to be a smile.” The sociologist noted that goodwill consistently prevailed in railbirds’ chats.

So now I’m determined to head to Monmouth Park sometime this year to do some reporting. I already know the theory is true from past personal experience (as Johnny Mac, for one, would also back up), but I need a tip in the fourth race and, hey, he looks like an interesting fellow.... “Who do you like?”

[I never did tell you a certain story from my trip to see American Pharoah race at Monmouth, Aug. 2, 2015, did I? Heh heh. Some other day.]

--We note the passing of Doreen Tracey, one of the original Mouseketeers on “The MickeyMouse Club.” She was 74.

Tracey, long-described by herself as the “black sheep” of the 1950s children’s show, later became an associate of Frank Zappa.

Tracey was featured during the entire original 1955-59 run of “The Mickey Mouse Club” on ABC, the show then living in syndication, which is where I picked it up for a spell as a young lad.

Tracey later formed a rock group called Doreen and the Invaders, touring Vietnam in 1968 shortly after the Tet Offensive, and she posed nude for Gallery magazine, and then worked as a publicist for Zappa.

The risqué photos, though, cost her work at Disney. “You get caught up in your own ego, not paying attention, not seeing the full repercussions,” she said later, though she reconciled with Disney and had appeared at various reunions in recent years.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1995, Tracey recalled that Walt Disney had advised her that appearing on the Mickey Mouse Club would be a heady experience.

“Walt said to me, ‘This will probably be the greatest thing you’ll ever do in your entire life.’ That was pretty heavy stuff for a 12-year-old. But he was right.”

NFL Quiz Answer: Three young 1957 Steelers QBs who went on to lengthy AFL/NFL careers: Earl Morrall, Jack Kemp and Len Dawson.

---

So I created a nightmare and I need to get out of it. You are allowed to submit your favorite Top40 song list, but it must be 1960-79 (you can slip into 1980), and it must be a song that was either in the top 40 or is an easily recognizable tune to those of us from that era.

But the list must also be “neat,” with the song title and group name. You can’t assume I know everything else, let alone that I want to spend my time rewriting everything.

So that said...here are the first two.

Since day one of this site I’ve noted that my top three were interchangeable:

“Fooled Around and Fell In Love” (Elvin Bishop)“Crystal Blue Persuasion” (Tommy James and the Shondels)“Hello It’s Me” (Todd Rundgren)

If you put a gun to my head, my other Top Tens would be (in no particular order):

North American Top 40, 1960-1979
I’m Losing You: Rare Earth (first album I ever bought)
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed: Allman Brothers (first band I ever saw live - 1974)
Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay: Otis Redding (stops me dead in my tracks every time I hear the song)
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again): Sly and the Family Stone
Hotel California: The Eagles (my all-time favorite band, seen them 8 times, first time in 1975)
What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye (absolutely awesome tune)
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me): The Temptations (as soulful as they get)
Why Can’t We Be Friends: War (always loved any band that could incorporate horns)
Fortunate Son: Creedence Clearwater Revival (best southern band in my opinion)
Funk #49: The James Gang (Joe Walsh, best slide guitarist of all time)
Can’t You See: Marshall Tucker Band (Spartanburg, SC band. My daughter took drums from Paul Riddle for 7 years. Too bad she didn’t stick with it)
Sweet Home Alabama: Lynyrd Skynyrd (gotta pay tribute to my place of birth)
25 or 6 to 4: Chicago (always loved their big band style)
Already Gone: The Eagles (I sang this song after every girl ditched me. I sang this a lot).
Sweet Emotion: Aerosmith
I Walk the Line: Johnny Cash
The Weight: The Band (if you’ve never listened to their music, you don’t know what you’re missing)
Heart of Gold: Neil Young (just wish he hadn’t recorded Southern Man or I’d rank him higher)
Georgia on My Mind: Ray Charles
That’s the Way of the World: Earth, Wind and Fire (good memories of WFU with this band)
Tracks of My Tears: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (Smokey - what a voice)
Desperado (although her version of TOMT or Blue Bayou ain’t bad): Linda Ronstadt (my sweetheart)
For What It’s Worth: Buffalo Springfield
Tangled Up in Blue: Bob Dylan
Superstition: Stevie Wonder (love pre-1980 Stevie. Gotten a little weird since then)
Thunder Road: Bruce Springsteen (the only real “rock” artist from NJ in my opinion)
Family Affair: Sly and the Family Stone
Foxey Lady: Jimi Hendrix and the Experience (my best friends here in town have the last name of Fox. Always think about the girls in their family when I hear this tune)
Werewolves of London: Warren Zevon (always crack up when I hear this song. Takes a week to get the words out of my head)
Piano Man: Billy Joel. (loved his performance our freshman year at WFU)
Papa Was a Rolling Stone: The Temptations
Brass in Pocket: The Pretenders (loved Chrissie Hynde)
Lean on Me: Bill Withers (use this as a pick-me-up song all the time)
These Eyes: The Guess Who
Only the Lonely (but I love Crying, Blue Bayou and Pretty Woman as well): Roy Orbison
Chain of Fools: Aretha Franklin (the greatest American woman singer of my generation, hands down)
Respect Yourself: The Staple Singers
Wichita Lineman: Glen Campbell (miss him)
Take Me Home Country Roads, John Denver (miss him, too)
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain: Willie Nelson (I would party with this man anytime)

Dr. W’s List of British/Other Top 40 Hits (1960-1979)

Wish You Were Here: Pink Floyd (2nd album I ever bought was DSOTM. Hooked on them for the next 10 years)
Bang a Gong (Get It On): T. Rex (great song that I think I heard for the first time when I was 13. Fell in love with rock and roll after hearing this)
Baba O’Riley: The Who (seen these guys 5 times. Always outstanding performers)
Hypnotized: Fleetwood Mac (Christine McVie……sigh……)
Ramble On: Led Zeppelin (best concert I ever went to. 1977 in Greensboro. So much pot filled the air that you didn’t have to bring anything in to get high)
Hello Old Friend: Eric Clapton (best guitarist along with Jeff Beck)
Us and Them: Pink Floyd
A Day in the Life: The Beatles (never been a great Beatles fan but you gotta acknowledge their contributions)
I know I’m Losing You: The Faces (becoming a bigger Rod Stewart fan as I get older)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Elton John (seen him 4 times. Great entertainer)
Sympathy for the Devil: The Rolling Stones (saw them in 1981 in Clemson, got tickets to the after concert party. Largest collection of cocaine users on the planet were at that party…….)
I Shot the Sheriff: Bob Marley and the Wailers
Strawberry Fields Forever: The Beatles
Brown Eyed Girl: Van Morrison (dedicated to my wife)
Kashmir: Led Zeppelin
Bennie and the Jets: Elton John
Changes: David Bowie (Connie’s favorite performer from this era)
I am the Walrus: The Beatles
London Calling: The Clash (released in 1980. Just makes the list)
IBack in Black: AC/DC (band dedicated to rock and roll all the time. Great tune but also released just in time in 1980)
Long, Cool Woman: The Hollies
Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who
She’s Not There: The Zombies
Alison: Elvis Costello (had an old girl friend named Alison. She was much nicer than the girl in this song)
Wild Horses: The Rolling Stones
My Generation: The Who
And It Stoned Me: Van Morrison
Lola: The Kinks (never had a night like this but love the lyrics to this song)
Satisfaction: The Rolling Stones
Hold Your Head Up: Argent
Life on Mars: David Bowie
Work to Do: Average White Band (funk masters from Scotland. They deserve to be on this list)
Stay with Me: The Faces
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: AC/DC
Rocket Man: Elton John
Somebody to Love: Queen
Your Song: Elton John
Over My Head: Fleetwood Mac (did I mention Christine McVie……sigh………)
After Midnight: Eric Clapton
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey: Paul McCartney and Wings (I really liked the Ram album. McCartney did well on his own)

Note to Shu....your list wasn’t easy to quickly edit. You’ll be in next time. I know you were rushed and hadn’t seen the full rules. Have a super time in Hawaii.

And anyone else can submit but, again, my only, IMPORTANT, requirement is that you try and put it in a format I don’t have to spend a lot of time on. And, remember, we’re talking 1960-79, a top 40 song or one that almost everyone would know.

What a last few hours. And I just learned my brother’s favorite race driver, and thus one of mine, Dan Gurney, died at the age of 86. Much more on this great American’s life next time. But understand for now, Dan Gurney was truly one of the best all-around drivers of his generation. He did it all. My family loved the guy.

NFL Quiz: So awhile back, Johnny Mac said he was scrolling through profootballreference.com and, don’t ask me why, he came across the 1957 Steelers page, Pittsburgh going 6-6 that season. What is interesting is that they had three quarterbacks on their roster, ages 23, 22 and 22, who would go on to very solid NFL careers, just not with Pittsburgh. Bobby Layne would take over in 1958, and then you had the likes of Ed Brown, Kent Nix, Bill Nelsen, Rudy Bukich and Dick Shiner, before Terry Bradshaw finally emerged in 1970.

So who were these three 1957 quarterbacks who would go on to play until 1976, 1969 and 1975 in the NFL, two of them appearing in Super Bowls, the other winning an AFL championship. Answer below.

NFL Playoffs

Next Sunday....

Jacksonville at New England [Drat! Early forecast is for 50 degrees! This sucks.]

Despite being underdogs as a No. 1 seed because it was backup QB Nick Foles vs. the experience of Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Falcons 15-10 to move into the NFC championship game on Saturday.

Eagles kicker Jake Elliott, who had missed an extra point, was three-of-three on field goals, as Philly, down 10-9 at half, prevailed behind a defense that largely shut down Ryan, who was a mediocre 22/36, 210, 1-0, 86.6.

As for Nick Foles, the guy is a hero this week in Philly and for good reason. The weather conditions weren’t easy, witness that dying duck first pass of his, but he went on to play spectacularly well, 23/30, 246, 0-0, 100.1, given all the circumstances and pressure.

The Eagles outgained the Falcons 334-281, but did lose two fumbles, while Atlanta managed zippo after taking a 10-6 lead with 5:41 to play in the second quarter on a Ryan to Devonta Freeman touchdown pass.

In the end, though, Philadelphia’s defense had to stage a last-minute goal-line stand after Ryan did manage to drive his team 74 yards to the Philly two, at which point on fourth-down he misfired with receiver Julio Jones.

Jones made no excuses for not coming up with what would have been the game-winning catch in the final moments of the game.

With the ball on the Eagles’ 2-yard line, Jones slipped to the ground after what may have been a push by Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills. Jones managed to get back on his feet but failed to make a play on Ryan’s floating pass.

Jones said in part after: “I ended up on the ground when I came out of my route. And that’s a tough call [for the official] to make during that situation in the game. That was it.”

But get this. Ryan was 1-of-18 on passes to Jones in the end zone this season, after going 3-for-8 last season. [ESPN Stats & Information.]

In Saturday’s nightcap...the Patriots moved to 18-3 in the postseason in the Tom/Bill era, 35-14 winners over the Titans in a contest that many believe would have been much tighter had two key calls not gone against Tennessee.

The Titans shocked the Pats early on a touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota to Corey Davis, Davis making a spectacular one-handed grab in the end zone, but then New England rattled off 35 straight.

The thing is it was 7-7, the Titans driving, when Mariota zipped one to receiver Eric Decker for a conversion on third-and-14 deep in New England territory, only Decker was called for pass interference on Pats corner Malcolm Butler, a totally bogus call as Tony Romo said at the time.

And there was an awful encroachment call that gave the Pats a first down when they were preparing to punt, which Brady turned into a touchdown, and Titans fans have reason to be more than a bit torqued off. Momentum is everything and when Brady turned the penalty into Pats 21, Titans 7, it was ballgame over.

For the record, Mariota passed for 254 yards, two touchdowns, and a 98.3 rating, while Brady was 35/53, 337, 3-0, 102.5; Danny Amendola with 11 receptions for 102 yards for New England.

Tom Brady dispelled any queasy feelings Pats fans had after a poor December when in five games he threw just six touchdowns with five interceptions.

Yup, it’s that time of year, postseason, and as the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay put it:

“Bill Belichick is America’s most famous Grumpy Lobster Boat Captain, and January is his favorite time to collect his traps.”

On to Sunday....

Scads will be written about the Steelers losing at home to the Jaguars, 45-42, and how overly cocky Pittsburgh was going in, led by coach Mike Tomlin. Let’s just say Tomlin in most organizations would be out of a job tomorrow, but with the Steelers, they value stability and with the uncertainty over Ben Roethlisberger’s future, Tomlin will be around one more year.

Otherwise, he deserves to be fired. Since losing the Super Bowl in 2010, he’s 3-5 in the playoffs with some godawful play-calling. Yes, offensive coordinator Todd Haley made two fourth-and-one calls that were beyond idiotic today, costing Pittsburgh dearly, but Tomlin is still the major domo. Only in his case he’s proved more often than not to be Major Dumbo.

Forget being a Steelers fan, if you just follow football, those two fourth-and-ones were as bad as it gets. And then you had the decision to attempt an offsides kick late when you had plenty of time to get the ball back with 1:30 or so to play for the tying score.

I’ll have more on this one next time, for the record, but for now I do have to note that Steve G.’s Jags and quarterback Blake Bortles were simply the better team. Forget that Pittsburgh outgained Jacksonville 545-378. That’s as deceiving as it comes.

Bortles was solid. 14/26, 214, 1-0, 94.1, plus 35 yards rushing on five carries. Leonard Fournette had 109 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, setting the tone early with smashmouth runs.

For the Steelers, Roethlisberger ended up with 469 yards and five TDs, but in the end it’s like, “whatever.” Antonio Brown’s spectacular receptions (7-132-2) going to waste, ditto tight end Vance McDonald’s 10-112.

Personally, I think the play of the Jags’ second back, T.J. Yeldon, was key...he only had 20 yards rushing on five carries, and a touchdown, but he had another 57 on three receptions and it seemed the eight times he touched it were critical. He’d get one of my game balls for sure.

And how can I ignore Wake Forest’s Tommy Bohanon, who had the deciding 14-yard TD reception out of his fullback slot. Go Deacs!

And then we had New Orleans at Minnesota. I was totally disinterested watching this one as Minnesota built up a 17-0 halftime lead.

At this point I watched some local news, then the Knicks (see below), then national news....

Oh, I was paying attention to the game online...but then I watched the first two stories on “60 Minutes,” while attempting to proof this monstrous column, and then I realized, ‘Holy s---,’ this one requires my undivided attention.

Stefan Diggs, in an amazing last gasp play just to get in field goal range, snags a pass from Case Keenum and, when the Saints’ d-backs fail to just push him out of bounds (let alone figure out where they are on the field), Diggs goes prancing down the sideline for the score and the game-winner...a play, a game, for the ages.

Minnesota wins, 29-24...but in the celebration after, the Vikings, required by the NFL to kick the extra point, even with no time, eventually line up and take a knee.

Only the line was 5 ½. So fitting for this unreal ending.

Four lead changes the last three minutes. Again, more next chat.

--As for the Giants’ search for a head coach, by all accounts it’s down to New England coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, and Minnesota’s offensive coordinator Pay Shurmur, though all three are also up for other head-coaching positions; namely McDaniels and the Colts, Patricia and the Lions, and Shurmur and the Panthers.

Tonight, it seems Patricia is heading to Detroit and McDaniels to Indy.

--Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post had a piece on the latest Gallup poll released this week on the popularity of American sports and despite the NFL’s falling ratings and concussion issues, football remains America’s most popular spectator sport by a large margin; 37 percent saying it is their favorite sport to watch. Granted this is down from its all-time high of 43 percent in 2006 and 2007, but it is still far ahead of basketball (11 percent) and baseball (9 percent).

What’s worrisome is baseball fell below double-digits for the first time since the survey was first taken in 1937, and now is barely ahead of soccer (7 percent...an all-time high for it and up 4 points since the last poll in 2013).

This is kind of a strange survey in that it doesn’t seem fair to baseball, which is every day for six+ months, while football is once a week for basically four months. And golf is once a week for essentially nine+ months. I don’t know how I’d answer it myself. Football is my favorite spectator sport, I guess, but I don’t miss a single Mets game, nor a golf tournament, including minor ones.

Plus there is a difference between college football (which I prefer) over the NFL, and college basketball (which I prefer big time) over the NBA.

And then when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around, and my Rangers are in it, well that gets my full attention over anything else that particular day.

So I say again, I’m not so sure about the survey’s conclusions and if it’s as meaningful as it appears.

College Basketball Review...since last chat

Wednesday....

No. 1 Villanova beat 10 Xavier 89-65 in Philadelphia, a bad loss for the Musketeers, who dropped to 15-3, the Wildcats 15-1.

2 West Virginia (15-2) lost at 8 Texas Tech (15-2) 72-71. It’s a tough conference, boys and girls. No shame in Morgantown.

4 Michigan State lost its second in three games, in East Lansing, 82-72 to Michigan (15-4). Could have been three straight if it hadn’t eked by Rutgers.

Your Bar Chat “Pick to Click” for the national title, 5 Wichita State, just got by Tulsa (10-8) 72-69 in a tough road win...the Shockers now 15-2.

7 Duke (15-2) defeated Wake Forest (8-9) 89-71 in a game that wasn’t watchable after the first 10 minutes or so. There’s a groundswell developing to fire Danny Manning, but it just isn’t going to happen with a supposed big recruiting class coming in. The thing is we have some decent players, but as a team they blow. And there is also no doubt it is a totally different story if big man Dinos Mitoglou hadn’t decided to stay in Greece this summer and sign a pro contract to play there, rather than go back to Winston-Salem for his senior year as he had assured Manning was going to be the case.

Anyway, Saturday, for Duke Marvin Bagley III had his usual 30 points, 11 rebounds, while Grayson Allen had a bizarre game...37 minutes, 0 for 5 from the field, 2 points, but 12 rebounds and 8 assists.

Coach K wasn’t on the bench, the victim of flu, and associate head coach Jeff Capel was in charge.

9 Oklahoma beat 16 TCU (13-4) in Norman, 102-97 in overtime, the Sooners now 14-2, as freshman phenom Trae Young broke out of his mini-shooting slump to go 15 of 27 from the field, 10 of 18 from three! 43 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Yes, the Steph Curry comparisons are totally accurate.

10 Xavier rebounded from its loss to Villanova, beating 25 Creighton (14-4) 92-70 at home, the Musketeers now 16-3.

13 Seton Hall rebounded from its debacle at Marguette on Tuesday to beat Georgetown (12-5) at home, the Pirates 15-3.

I watched the last ten minutes of Oregon (12-6) and 17 Arizona (14-4) because once I stumbled on it and saw Bill Walton was doing the telecast, I had to stay with it. I am a shameless Walton fan, but because he only does Pac 12 games, I’m obviously not up for them during the week.

Arizona won 90-83, behind stars Allonzo Trier, 25 points, and looming top five draft pick, center Deandre Ayton, 24, but I had to jot down some Walton quotes as he talked about “the conference of champions” only about 15 times in a short period of time, which I just find a hoot (but I understand how others may not like his schtick).

I mean in just three minutes, we had:

“The creativity of the Ducks here...fly on the wings of your own...”

“Conference of champions...Sonoran Desert...El Jefe...” (El Jefe being a jaguar that has been spotted nearby on camera)

“We are rewriting the story of Deandre and the history of the world...”

Referring to a coach at another school in the conference getting in trouble for bitching at the refs: “If you don’t complain you’ll never get positive change....MLK’s march on Washington...”

As Allonzo Trier made a good play: “I’ve been waiting to see leadership...go beyond failure!”

“What a physique...Elijah Brown (Oregon) played for Butler, then New Mexico, but the fifth year senior wanted to play for the Conference of Champions....”

One more game from Saturday...No. 19 Clemson rebounded from its loss to N.C. State with a 72-63 home win over 18 Miami (13-3), the Tigers 15-2.

Sunday....

3 Virginia (16-1) beat N.C. State 68-51. The Cavaliers....wow....

NBA

--I can’t help but note Toronto’s dismantling of Cleveland (26-15) 133-99, Thursday, the Raptors advancing to 29-11. But as they said after, if the two met in the playoffs, it would be a different story...frustrated Toronto fans, among the best, if not the best, in the league, knowing all too well what happens in the postseason.

[Toronto then had a crushing loss at home to the Warriors (35-9) on Saturday, 127-125.]

--Marc Berman / New York Post

“Call him Mr. November.

“The Knicks have a lot of issues, but none more concerning than what to make about Kristaps Porzingis’ third straight post-Christmas decline.

“The entire franchise is built upon Porzingis becoming a superstar for the ages, contending for greatest-Knick-ever status. And while he should become a perennial All-Star, the franchise needs him to be more than Paul Gasol – or Paul Millsap.

“The Knicks (19-23) are losing now not because Porzingis doesn’t have enough help. They’re losing because he isn’t doing enough.

“The 7-foot-3 Latvian has not played like an All-Star since December, hitting another wall. His recent ‘so tired’ remark in Washington will be cited until the 22-year-old snaps out of this post-November funk.

“Porzingis’ core strength, stamina and genetic makeup are relevant issues, with a third straight fade after brilliant play in October and November. During his rookie year, it was revealed he had been diagnosed with anemia during his Spanish League days. Porzingis took iron to combat the ensuing fatigue and still does....

“Since December, Porzingis is shooting just 39.4 percent to bring his shooting percentage down to a middling 43.2 percent, his scoring average to 23.6. Symbolically or not, Carmelo Anthony, in his final season as a Knick, shot 43.3 percent – a number that was unpleasing to (coach Jeff) Hornacek.”

Frankly, what Berman can’t write is that the guy has flat-out sucked. You have to watch him every day to fully understand this, but he’s been failing to hustle back on defense, he’s slow to recognize defenses, and he’s become just like Anthony...a jump shooter...only at 7-foot-3!

There are actually some NBA scouts who believe backup center Willy Hernangomez has more talent than Porzingis (but Hernangomez, who has posted some big numbers in the past when given the opportunity, doesn’t know what defense is).

Friday, the Knicks lost at Minnesota 118-108, the T’Wolves, my favorite to surprise Golden State in the playoffs, now 28-16. While the Knicks welcomed back Tim Hardaway Jr., Porzingis was lousy again, 6 of 19 from the field, 17 points.

Also Friday, Indiana handed Cleveland its third straight loss, 97-85, the Cavs blowing an early 32-10 lead.

Well today, Sunday, the Knicks lost yet again, now 10 of 12, four straight at home, 123-118 to New Orleans in overtime. It was beyond pathetic, the Knicks up 14 entering the fourth quarter and getting outscored 27-13 to send it into OT. Porzingis was 10 of 24, 25 points. The Pelicans’ Anthony Davis 17 of 30, 48 points and 17 rebounds.

I flipped this game on for overtime, having followed it on the net, and Mike Breen and Walt“Clyde” Frazier were apoplectic after.

Breen: “This is a loss that will make Knicks fans sick to their stomachs.”

Clyde: “Losing to a team that didn’t want to be here (by the way they were playing early).”

Breen: “Inexcusable loss, Clyde.”

Clyde: “I think they are in denial if they think they are close.”

Breen: “It’s the most crushing loss of the season.”

And now the Knicks go on the road for seven straight, starting at Brooklyn tomorrow for MLK Day.

MLB

What a glacial free-agent season it’s been. Us Mets fans, though, were pleased to see GM Sandy Alderson sign a former friend, Jay Bruce, for three years, $39 million, after Bruce had played well for the Metropolitans last season before being traded to Cleveland. You get 30 homers and 90 RBIs out of Bruce every season. You don’t care about the batting average. He just does a solid job and we know he can play in New York.

But, more broadly speaking, as the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner points out, not only do we have three Kansas City Royals regulars – Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain – still available in free agency, we also have the likes of J.D. Martinez (best slugging percentage in baseball last season); Yu Darvish; Jake Arrieta; and star closer Greg Holland.

As Mike Stanton, former reliever and union representative, told Kepner: “This has been coming for six, seven, eight years. Free agency gets pushed back and pushed back because teams know once you get closer to spring training, prices are going to come down. Eventually, players want a team to play for. There’s pressure from home, from friends, all around, to figure out where you’re going to go.”

Stanton doesn’t like what he sees, though he’s not about to use the word collusion.

I just agree with those who say GMs are becoming far smarter. No one in their mid-30s, for example, is going to get a big deal after all the experience of bad ones in that situation, for example. And you’re not likely to see extensive deals for pitchers anymore.

But the true test case is next offseason with the likes of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and, potentially, Clayton Kershaw.

Meanwhile, Friday, 145 players agreed to one-year contracts rather than go to arbitration with their teams. Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson agreed to a $23 million contract, the largest one-year deal ever for an arbitration-eligible player. Donaldson had 33 homers and 78 RBIs in just 113 games last season as he was hampered by injuries early on.

For the Cubs, Kris Bryant settled with the team for $10.85 million, the most for a first time arbitration-eligible player. Bryant had 29 homers and drove in a disappointing 73 last year when he made $1.05 million. The year before he was NL MVP as the Cubbies won the World Series.

-Back to my Metsies, they made another move I like, signing former All-Star and Gold Glove first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to a one-year contract, contingent upon him passing a physical. Gonzalez will turn 36 but he’ll be a good alternative if prospect Dominic Smith can’t show more than he did last season in a call-up.

Gonzalez appeared in only 71 games last season for the Dodgers, battling injuries, and he was displaced by Cody Bellinger, who went on to become Rookie of the Year.

But in 2016, Gonzalez played 156 games and hit .285 with 18 homers and 90 ribbies. Mets fans would gladly take .270, 15-75, with solid fielding if Smith isn’t the answer. [And Jay Bruce can play first as well.]

I’m guessing Gonzalez plays a lot, and that Smith plays the bulk of the year at AAA.

--As for the crosstown rival Yankees, they lost out on 27-year-old Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole, who was traded to the Astros for four players, three of whom have major league experience.

Let me be in the minority in saying the Pirates fleeced the Astros. Understand, while Cole was highly sought this offseason, his only dominant season was his 19-8, 2.60 ERA campaign in 2015 and since then he has been either injured or underwhelming, going 12-12, 4.26 last season. I totally get why Houston did this, hoping to unlock Cole’s true potential, like they did with another former Pirate, Charlie Morton, but I think Pittsburgh fans will be pleased with this one.

As for the Yanks, they thought Cole might be the final piece to completing a rotation, but Pittsburgh rightfully wanted one of New York’s top prospects and the Yanks balked, correctly so.

Yankee fans, don’t fret. You’ll be just fine...think Chance Adams, who I imagine is throwing at the big league level by end of May.

--Ken P. alerted me to a passing I had missed, from Dec. 28; Al Luplow, former outfielder for the Indians, Mets and Pirates who died at the age of 78.

In seven seasons, 1961-67, Luplow batted .235, but in ’62 with Cleveland, he had 14 homers and 45 RBIs, batting .277 in just 318 at-bats, though this was his best season. He did hit .251 with 7 homers and 31 ribbies for the Mets in 1966.

But it was on Aug. 17, 1967, that Luplow, playing right field for the Pirates, was part of one of my first vivid baseball memories, arguing whether a ball was fair or foul down the right-field line as the Mets’ Bud Harrelson circled the bases for an inside-the-park homerun. It’s funny what you remember sometimes. I even recall our family had just returned from dinner at a local pizza joint when I flipped on the black & white TV in our living room to see this.

Luplow is most famous, though, for a catch in 1963, when while playing the outfield for the Indians, he robbed the Red Sox’ Dick Williams of a home run at Fenway Park; Luplow breaking for the ball, leaping after hitting the warning track, and clearing the five-foot wall in front of the Red Sox bullpen, backhanding the ball and crashing to the earth below.

“I felt the warning track, so I was definitely aware of the wall. But I guess I’d just made up my mind to catch the ball,” Luplow shared with Sports Illustrated on Oct. 14, 1985. “It was actually over the fence when I caught it, and I just barely touched the fence with my right knee going over.

“After I caught the ball, I said, ‘Uh oh!’ If I’d kept going face first, I would have really hurt myself. I think my football background helped me.”

It was said that Luplow, growing up in Saginaw, Michigan and playing football as well as baseball at Michigan State, could have played in the NFL if he had focused solely on that sport.

--Finally, we note the passing of second-generation bat-retrieving golden retriever Derby, who plied his trade with the Trenton Thunder AA team (Yankees).

Derby made headlines nationwide and was featured on ESPN for entertaining crowds by grabbing bats at home plate during games. He was 20 days shy of his 10th birthday.

I’ve seen Derby in action at my one Thunder game a year I attend. Thank you, Denise D., for passing this along, the two of us sharing a love for Black Bear hot dogs (and happy hour beer), featured at Thunder games.

“Chase,” by the way, was the original bat dog, and Derby was part of a litter from Chase in 2008.

Golf Balls

--Befitting this absolutely crazy day, Patton Kizzire and James Hahn are in a playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii and I must move on before it’s final.

--Rory McIlroy said in an interview with the Telegraph that doctors had discovered an irregularity with his heart.

“I have a flat T-wave and I’ll have to get an echo [cardiogram] on my heart every six months and an MRI scan ever year,” McIlroy told the paper. “I suffered a really bad viral infection in China 18 months ago, and they told me that’s the reason that I have this thickening of my left ventricle and there’s a bit of scar tissue. For now, I just need to stay on top of it and have to stay fit. Hey, I was planning on doing that anyway.”

McIlroy, after four months off, is playing two events in Dubai before returning to the PGA Tour at Pebble Beach.

Premier League

It’s been one busy stretch for the PL, with the holiday schedule, and then FA Cup play, but league action resumed this weekend.

Saturday, Chelsea and Leicester played to a 0-0 draw, while Crystal Palace had a big 1-0 win over Burnley, Palace no longer having to worry about relegation.

West Ham whipped Huddersfield 4-1; Swansea picked up a point in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle; West Brom had a huge 4-0 win over Brighton; and my Tottenham Spurs destroyed Everton 4-0 at Wembley, Harry Kane with another two goals, making it 20 on the season. He also now has 98 Premier League goals, most in a Spurs uniform, and in just 135 games.

Then Sunday, I watched some of Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Arsenal, an awful loss for the Gunners and their hopes for a top four Champions League berth.

But I totally forgot Liverpool was hosting Manchester City, swept up in news coverage and, frankly, trying to get this column done. Dr. W. wrote to make sure I saw it...doh! Liverpool ended City’s unbeaten streak 4-3. It was 4-1 at Anfield until two late goals made it a contest.

Congratulations to manager Jurgen Klopp, in the Reds’ first game since losing star Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona. Klopp is one of the more likable figures in his sport and got a break for uttering an F-word on NBC Sports after the contest.

I’ll review the standings next time after Manchester United’s Monday contest against Stoke.

Keith Jackson, RIP

Just three weeks after losing broadcasting legend Dick Enberg, we lost another, Keith Jackson, who died Friday at the age of 89.

Jackson, who retired in 2006, spent 50 years calling the action of college football and other sports in a folksy, down-to-earth manner that made him one of the best play-by-play in the business.

Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company: “For generations of fans, Keith Jackson was college football. When you heard his voice, you knew it was a big game. Keith was a true gentleman and a memorable presence.”

Jackson got his start on the radio in 1952, working Washington State games, but then went on to provide the national television soundtrack for the biggest games in the sport, popularizing expressions such as “Whoa, Nellie,” and “Big Uglies,” along the way. He was credited with nicknaming the Rose Bowl “The Granddaddy of Them All” and Michigan’s stadium “The Big House.”

Bob Griese, who worked with Jackson starting in 1985, said when asked what he’d most remember: “That big smiling face, and just the thrill and the love he had for doing college football.”

“He did it for a long, long time. ...He never intruded on the game. It was always about the kids on the field. Never, never shining the light on himself. And that was one of the things that I most admired about him.”

As a fan of Jackson’s, that’s the perfect description of the man.

Jackson began calling college football games for ABC Sports in 1966 after it acquired the broadcast rights, and he also worked NFL and NBA games, 11 World Series, 10 Winter and Summer Olympics and auto racing, as well as traveling to 31 countries for “Wide World of Sports.”

Jackson was also the first play-by-play voice of “Monday Night Football” when that program debuted in 1970, and he called Bucky Dent’s home run against the Red Sox in 1978, and Reggie Jackson’s three homer game in the 1977 World Series.

Jackson’s final college football game was the 2006 Rose Bowl, and talk about going out in thrilling style, that was the national title showdown between USC and Texas that saw Vince Young and the Longhorns prevail over USC and its two Heisman Trophy winners, Matt Leinhart and Reggie Bush, with 19 seconds remaining. He also did Kordell Stewart’s Hail Mary in the 1994 “Miracle at Michigan,” Desmond Howard’s “Hello Heisman” moment in 1991 for Michigan, plus “Wide Right I” and “Wide Right II” in the Florida State-Miami rivalry.

He was inducted into the American Sportscasters Hall of Fame in 1994, and he received the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award from the American Football Coaches Association. He was also named the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association “National Sportscaster of the Year” five times.

Jackson was born on Oct. 18, 1928, in Roopville, Georgia – near the Alabama state line. He spent four years in the Marine Corps before attending Washington State and graduating with a broadcast journalism degree.

Back to “Whoa Nellie!”, Jackson said frequently it was “overrated.” “There were all kinds of stories going around. People said I had a mule in Georgia named Nellie. Well, we had a mule in Georgia, but her name was Pearl.”

But despite his protests, Jackson did proclaim “Whoa Nellie!” in a beer commercial late in his career.

Jackson was so entrenched at ABC that the network wouldn’t let him retire the first time he announced he was doing so in 1998. Then 70, he said he was tired of getting on airplanes. [He came back because the network kept in the Pacific time zone, close to his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home.]

He did get roundly criticized once – unfairly, he said – for ignoring an ugly incident late in the 1978 Gator Bowl game (which was the fifth-best bowl contest back in the day), when Ohio State coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman after Bauman had intercepted a pass near the Ohio State sideline. Jackson later said the sideline was crowded with players and officials and he didn’t see the punch. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1999:

“If people go back and listen, I said, ‘Let’s look at the tape and see what happened.’ But we didn’t see the tape because the network was nickel-and-diming the operation at that time with a bunch of green kids and the tape was in New York, which did not feed to us in the booth. I saw [the punch] for the first time at noon the next day on NBC.” [Mike Kupper and Mike DiGiovanna / Los Angeles Times]

Jackson lived in the same home on a quiet cul-de-sac for some 50 years. He had views of the San Fernando Valley that, on a clear day, allowed him to see the Rose Bowl. He was last at the Rose Bowl in 2016, attending USC-Penn State.

Darryl Dunn, the Rose Bowl general manager who grew close to Jackson, said, “He was a John Wayne type – he told his old war stories, and it was priceless, because it was Keith Jackson.

Jackson’s passion outside broadcasting was golf and he was a frequent partner of Bob Hope and Vin Scully at the Los Angeles Country Club. He played in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 2009 at the age of 80.

How good was he? He said at his best a four-handicapper, but at age 80, he shot 78 on the L.A. Country Club’s North Course, said to be very difficult.

Chuck Culpepper / Washington Post

“Sunday died in April 2013; now Saturday has gone along with it. Maybe they’re huddled together in some football heaven.

“For just as the spare, reassuring voice of Pat Summerall meant it must be Sunday and it must be autumn and it must be near daylight saving time, the frenzied, reassuring voice of Keith Jackson meant it must be Saturday. It must be randy, rowdy, rollicking Saturday. The weekend must be underway. The nerves must feel at leisure. The crisp air must be on the way.

“Hear the eternally pleasing voice of Jackson and you might close your eyes and see the leaves turning outdoors even while you remain on the sofa. Hear the voice of Jackson, and you might know the football situation on the television called for gravitas, even if the unpretentious voice did manage to arrive at gravitas without trying. Hear that voice, and every American region seemed contained somewhere within it, from the boyhood on a Georgia farm near the Alabama line to the longtime residence in Los Angeles to all the chronic alighting everywhere in between....

“Hear the voice, and you might know you’re shirking an errand, and you might not care.

“The voice took a technical game of stupefying moments and 100,000-strong crowds and distilled it to its humanity. Jackson would call a game in the Midwest yet give a score from Arkansas vs. Mississippi and say, ‘Them Hogs and Rebels’ve been fightin’ down there a loooong time.’ He would call a UCLA quarterback throwing a late bomb on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum floor by blaring, as the ball launched upward, ‘throws it just as far as he can throw it...’ In a first quarter, he would introduce an offensive line, maybe Nebraska’s, and refer to some 280-pounder as ‘the runt’ of the bunch. He would forgive a compromised running game by commending the defense as like ‘sticking your head into a sausage factory.’ After a time, he would change how you viewed games, would keep you staring at blasé games just to hear what the voice might yield next.

“That would be Jackson’s entire call of the last touchdown he would call, Texas’ final offensive play with 30 seconds left and a 38-33 deficit in the unreasonably good 2006 Rose Bowl, with that ‘r’ in ‘corner’ held through part of Young’s diagonal fourth-down trek from the Southern California 8-yard line to the pylon at the front-right corner of the end zone. That came just after ABC ran a graphic of the longest winning streaks ever – because USC stood sixth with 34 at that moment – and just after Yale appeared twice on the list, from the 1890s, and Dan Fouts said, ‘Nobody wanted to play Yale back then,’ and Jackson said, ‘Noooooo! Don’t jab a finger at that bunch. They’d beatcha up.’

“Then, as Texas and USC lined up for one of the most serious plays in the game’s history, the voice reminded us it also wasn’t that serious, simply by saying, ‘I’m too old for this.’....

“Good night, Mr. Jackson. And thanks. Thanks for making life so much better than it would have been without you.”

Jackson’s wife, Turi Ann, survives him. They met while he was at Washington State. Yet another example of the kind of man he was; the two being together all this time.

All-Species List

Lots of developments in recent days. None of which are good for ‘Man.’

From Sarah Lazarus / South China Morning Post:

“The international trade in illegal wildlife parts has another victim. Over the past five years, there has been an explosion in demand for the ‘red ivory’ of an Asian bird – the helmeted hornbill.

“Helmeted hornbill products sell for three to five times the price of elephant ivory. Their value has triggered a boom in poaching, sending the bird plunging towards extinction. Although it has been listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) since the 1970s – which means the trade is illegal – the helmeted hornbill is much sought after on the black market, and Post Magazine has discovered that Hong Kong plays a key role in the unfolding tragedy.”

Look up pictures of this bird. It’s way cool.

“The helmeted hornbill lives in remnant pockets of lowland rainforest in Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand and the southern tip of Myanmar. A large, bonkers-looking bird, with a featherless, wrinkly neck, and striking, black-and-white tail feathers, it’s dramatic call – think of the cackling laughter of a horror film maniac – was once a common sound in the rainforest.”

The “helmet” for the bird is a solid lump, tracing along the top of the bill and up into the skull, a lump called the casque. The casque is incredibly hard, having evolved because of the male birds’ habit of engaging in aerial head-butting contests.

Sarah Lazarus:

“Two combatants perch on different trees, take flight, and hurtle towards each other until they bang heads, producing a loud cracking noise. The jousts can go on for hours.”

Goodness gracious. And get this:

“Scientists are unsure whether (the birds) are competing for access to fruit trees or to females, but one theory suggests that the boys butt heads for longer when they have eaten too many alcohol-laced fermented figs.”

Boy, I sure hope you have newfound respect for the helmeted hornbill as I do. But the Chinese who are poaching it carve the casque up into miniature scenes for belt buckles, seals, figurines, snuff boxes, bracelets and other items.

Local hunters are paid $20 per gram by Chinese interests.

Separately, from The Economist:

“Humans bear the brunt of war. But other creatures get caughtin the crossfire. During Mozambique’s bloody civil war from 1977 to 1992, giraffe and elephant herds in the Gorongosa national park shrank by more than 90%. Between 1983 and 1995, while the Lord’s Resistance Army terrorized Uganda, topi and roan, two species of antelope, were wiped out completely in the country’s Pian Upe reserve.”

On the other hand, elephant numbers rebounded when war-torn Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) became too perilous for poachers in the 1970s.

Researchers Rob Pringle and Joshua Daskin, ecologists at Princeton and Yale Universities, released an extensive study on populations of large herbivores in protected areas across Africa from 1946 to 2010, published this week in Nature. The bottom line, peace is still better than war for the Animal Kingdom.

--Meanwhile, ‘Red Fox,’ No. 19 on the ASL, will be moving up when I release a new top ten list come Monday night. George R., a major proponent of the fox, reminded me that I needed to take Australians’ grumbling that it’s an invasive species with a grain of salt. Or more precisely, acknowledge that the Red Fox is a major defense in Australia against highly-destructive ‘grain mice,’ No. 297 on the ASL. I did some research on this topic and it’s true, grain mice have been particularly destructive in South Australia just recently.

--In Oak Ridge, N.C. this week, a 39-year-old tractor trailer driver, Devin L., fell asleep at the wheel, went off the road and hit a shoulder before overturning. The driver was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries; charged with careless/reckless driving.

I bring the story up because the tractor trailer was loaded with turkeys, many of which were killed.

‘Man’ will drop another few notches because of this.

--Finally, I forgot to mention a story last time that will have a major, major impact on the next ASL top ten. My brother alerted me to the tale of the humpback whale that saved a diver from a shark.

To wit...from Alina Polianskaya of the U.K.’s Independent:

“The moment a 25-ton humpback whale pushed (the diver) to safety from a 15-foot tiger shark was captured on camera.

“Biologist Nan Hauser was swimming off the coast of Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, when the giant creature swam in to prevent a ‘potentially deadly’ attack.

“She said the encounter may be proof of a whale’s intuitive nature to protect other species, including humans.

“She believes this has never been captured on video before and could be the first ever documented case of a humpback whale guarding a human from a shark.

“The giant whale tucked the 63-year-old under its pectoral fin and pushed her along with his head and mouth for around 10 minutes, she said.

“She later realized that the 15-foot-tiger shark was nearby, and that the whale was steering her away from it. She had initially thought it was another whale until she realized it was moving its tail from side to side rather than up and down, she said.

“ ‘I’ve spent the past 28 years protecting whales, and in the moment, I didn’t even realize that they were protecting me,’ she added.”

Ms. Hauser admitted after that she wasn’t sure it still wouldn’t end up being a deadly encounter for her.

“I wasn’t sure what the whale was up to when he approached me, and it didn’t stop pushing me around for over 10 minutes. It seemed like hours....

“I’ve spent 28 years underwater with whales, and have never had a whale so tactile and so insistent on putting me on his head, or belly, or back, or, most of all, trying to tuck me under his huge pectoral fin.”

I’m going with the angle the whale was protecting Ms. Hauser...and humpback whale is about to be hugely rewarded. And we ain’t just talking extra krill.

Stuff

--Mikaela Shiffrin is totally dominating the FIS World Alpine season, with her win total now up to 10 as she has taken a number of slaloms and giant slaloms since I last reported on the campaign. Her overall World Cup points lead is at this point virtually insurmountable, barring injury.

We do have a ton of action prior to the Olympics and I’ll keep up with her better until then.

As for the U.S. men...not one freakin’ podium finish all season. Ergo, don’t look to them in terms of ‘must-see TV’ from PyeongChang.

Then again, this is when a “Wild Bill” Johnson could emerge. [Shocking winner of the downhill in 1984 at Sarajevo.]

--The Vegas Golden Knights fought back against claims filed by the Department of the Army with the United States Trademark and Patent Office, that the Army has a trademark on the name “Golden Knights” in connection with its parachute team, dating back “at least” as far as 1969; the Army claiming it would be “damaged” by the NHL team’s trademark registration because that would “be likely to cause confusion, mistake or to deceive consumers, with consequent injury to [the Army] and the public.”

Las Vegas majority owner, Bill Foley, is a West Point graduate who has spoken openly of taking inspiration from the Army for his new squad’s name and look.

Foley “even attempted to name the...hockey team the ‘Black Knights,’” the name used by the Army’s sports teams, the filing claimed, which is not exactly accurate, according to Foley, who has said he opted not to use “Black Knights” because there is “already a Blackhawks in the league.”

But I agree with what the Vegas Golden Knights said in their counter statement, “We strongly dispute the Army’s allegations that confusion is likely between the Army Golden Knights parachute team and the Vegas Golden Knights major-league hockey team.”

The Army’s move, with all due respect, is stupid. If this was such an issue, why not bring it up far earlier? It’s now been a year since the Golden Knights name was out there and only now it becomes an issue?

I mean the Army is also taking issue with the Golden Knights’ color scheme, which features black and gold. Oh brother. Gee, I went to a school that has then been copying Army all these years as well.

Or were we first? Is Army ripping off Wake Forest?! [Just kidding, Black Knights!]

--Author Alan Pell Crawford / Wall Street Journal

“It was along the rail at Maryland’s Laurel Park that I first met Sergei Tolstoy, a great-grandson of the man who wrote ‘War and Peace.’ A count, he had a distinguished – if thinning – bloodline. Silver-haired and spry, he was tiny. At least he appeared so next to a forbiddingly colossal sidekick he referred to only as ‘my driver.’ Sergei’s companion might have been Samoan but didn’t say so. He didn’t say much of anything, while Sergei was always eager to tell you which horse would win the next race.

“I wish I had spent more time with Sergei, his driver and the other characters around the paddock. Nowhere will you meet more companionable people than at a racetrack’s rail. These species might be the most democratic patches of ground left in America. Here class and status – not to mention race, gender or sexual preference – mean nothing. If you want the real diversity, come to a racetrack.”

Mr. Crawford, though, goes on to bemoan how so many of America’s tracks are disappearing, a depressing fact.

“(I am) concerned for what all this means for American society. The U.S. is a republic but also a democracy. The decline of the racetrack subculture – and its inherently democratic nature – does not portend well for a country shaken with social tensions.”

Sociologist Kate Fox’s “The Racing Tribe: Portrait of a British Subculture” (1999) “looks at one of the few places where good-natured conviviality and a genuine sense of community remain the rule and not the exception. That it’s England she writes about only underscores the point. Brits, after all, tend to be stuffier people than Americans.” [Crawford]

Ms. Fox adds: “(Racegoers) seem happy to make eye contact with each other. And when obvious strangers made eye contact, they did not immediately glance away, in accordance with the normal laws of crowd behavior. Instead, the standard response seems to be a smile.” The sociologist noted that goodwill consistently prevailed in railbirds’ chats.

So now I’m determined to head to Monmouth Park sometime this year to do some reporting. I already know the theory is true from past personal experience (as Johnny Mac, for one, would also back up), but I need a tip in the fourth race and, hey, he looks like an interesting fellow.... “Who do you like?”

[I never did tell you a certain story from my trip to see American Pharoah race at Monmouth, Aug. 2, 2015, did I? Heh heh. Some other day.]

--We note the passing of Doreen Tracey, one of the original Mouseketeers on “The MickeyMouse Club.” She was 74.

Tracey, long-described by herself as the “black sheep” of the 1950s children’s show, later became an associate of Frank Zappa.

Tracey was featured during the entire original 1955-59 run of “The Mickey Mouse Club” on ABC, the show then living in syndication, which is where I picked it up for a spell as a young lad.

Tracey later formed a rock group called Doreen and the Invaders, touring Vietnam in 1968 shortly after the Tet Offensive, and she posed nude for Gallery magazine, and then worked as a publicist for Zappa.

The risqué photos, though, cost her work at Disney. “You get caught up in your own ego, not paying attention, not seeing the full repercussions,” she said later, though she reconciled with Disney and had appeared at various reunions in recent years.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1995, Tracey recalled that Walt Disney had advised her that appearing on the Mickey Mouse Club would be a heady experience.

“Walt said to me, ‘This will probably be the greatest thing you’ll ever do in your entire life.’ That was pretty heavy stuff for a 12-year-old. But he was right.”

NFL Quiz Answer: Three young 1957 Steelers QBs who went on to lengthy AFL/NFL careers: Earl Morrall, Jack Kemp and Len Dawson.

---

So I created a nightmare and I need to get out of it. You are allowed to submit your favorite Top40 song list, but it must be 1960-79 (you can slip into 1980), and it must be a song that was either in the top 40 or is an easily recognizable tune to those of us from that era.

But the list must also be “neat,” with the song title and group name. You can’t assume I know everything else, let alone that I want to spend my time rewriting everything.

So that said...here are the first two.

Since day one of this site I’ve noted that my top three were interchangeable:

“Fooled Around and Fell In Love” (Elvin Bishop)“Crystal Blue Persuasion” (Tommy James and the Shondels)“Hello It’s Me” (Todd Rundgren)

If you put a gun to my head, my other Top Tens would be (in no particular order):

North American Top 40, 1960-1979
I’m Losing You: Rare Earth (first album I ever bought)
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed: Allman Brothers (first band I ever saw live - 1974)
Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay: Otis Redding (stops me dead in my tracks every time I hear the song)
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again): Sly and the Family Stone
Hotel California: The Eagles (my all-time favorite band, seen them 8 times, first time in 1975)
What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye (absolutely awesome tune)
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me): The Temptations (as soulful as they get)
Why Can’t We Be Friends: War (always loved any band that could incorporate horns)
Fortunate Son: Creedence Clearwater Revival (best southern band in my opinion)
Funk #49: The James Gang (Joe Walsh, best slide guitarist of all time)
Can’t You See: Marshall Tucker Band (Spartanburg, SC band. My daughter took drums from Paul Riddle for 7 years. Too bad she didn’t stick with it)
Sweet Home Alabama: Lynyrd Skynyrd (gotta pay tribute to my place of birth)
25 or 6 to 4: Chicago (always loved their big band style)
Already Gone: The Eagles (I sang this song after every girl ditched me. I sang this a lot).
Sweet Emotion: Aerosmith
I Walk the Line: Johnny Cash
The Weight: The Band (if you’ve never listened to their music, you don’t know what you’re missing)
Heart of Gold: Neil Young (just wish he hadn’t recorded Southern Man or I’d rank him higher)
Georgia on My Mind: Ray Charles
That’s the Way of the World: Earth, Wind and Fire (good memories of WFU with this band)
Tracks of My Tears: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (Smokey - what a voice)
Desperado (although her version of TOMT or Blue Bayou ain’t bad): Linda Ronstadt (my sweetheart)
For What It’s Worth: Buffalo Springfield
Tangled Up in Blue: Bob Dylan
Superstition: Stevie Wonder (love pre-1980 Stevie. Gotten a little weird since then)
Thunder Road: Bruce Springsteen (the only real “rock” artist from NJ in my opinion)
Family Affair: Sly and the Family Stone
Foxey Lady: Jimi Hendrix and the Experience (my best friends here in town have the last name of Fox. Always think about the girls in their family when I hear this tune)
Werewolves of London: Warren Zevon (always crack up when I hear this song. Takes a week to get the words out of my head)
Piano Man: Billy Joel. (loved his performance our freshman year at WFU)
Papa Was a Rolling Stone: The Temptations
Brass in Pocket: The Pretenders (loved Chrissie Hynde)
Lean on Me: Bill Withers (use this as a pick-me-up song all the time)
These Eyes: The Guess Who
Only the Lonely (but I love Crying, Blue Bayou and Pretty Woman as well): Roy Orbison
Chain of Fools: Aretha Franklin (the greatest American woman singer of my generation, hands down)
Respect Yourself: The Staple Singers
Wichita Lineman: Glen Campbell (miss him)
Take Me Home Country Roads, John Denver (miss him, too)
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain: Willie Nelson (I would party with this man anytime)

Dr. W’s List of British/Other Top 40 Hits (1960-1979)

Wish You Were Here: Pink Floyd (2nd album I ever bought was DSOTM. Hooked on them for the next 10 years)
Bang a Gong (Get It On): T. Rex (great song that I think I heard for the first time when I was 13. Fell in love with rock and roll after hearing this)
Baba O’Riley: The Who (seen these guys 5 times. Always outstanding performers)
Hypnotized: Fleetwood Mac (Christine McVie……sigh……)
Ramble On: Led Zeppelin (best concert I ever went to. 1977 in Greensboro. So much pot filled the air that you didn’t have to bring anything in to get high)
Hello Old Friend: Eric Clapton (best guitarist along with Jeff Beck)
Us and Them: Pink Floyd
A Day in the Life: The Beatles (never been a great Beatles fan but you gotta acknowledge their contributions)
I know I’m Losing You: The Faces (becoming a bigger Rod Stewart fan as I get older)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Elton John (seen him 4 times. Great entertainer)
Sympathy for the Devil: The Rolling Stones (saw them in 1981 in Clemson, got tickets to the after concert party. Largest collection of cocaine users on the planet were at that party…….)
I Shot the Sheriff: Bob Marley and the Wailers
Strawberry Fields Forever: The Beatles
Brown Eyed Girl: Van Morrison (dedicated to my wife)
Kashmir: Led Zeppelin
Bennie and the Jets: Elton John
Changes: David Bowie (Connie’s favorite performer from this era)
I am the Walrus: The Beatles
London Calling: The Clash (released in 1980. Just makes the list)
IBack in Black: AC/DC (band dedicated to rock and roll all the time. Great tune but also released just in time in 1980)
Long, Cool Woman: The Hollies
Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who
She’s Not There: The Zombies
Alison: Elvis Costello (had an old girl friend named Alison. She was much nicer than the girl in this song)
Wild Horses: The Rolling Stones
My Generation: The Who
And It Stoned Me: Van Morrison
Lola: The Kinks (never had a night like this but love the lyrics to this song)
Satisfaction: The Rolling Stones
Hold Your Head Up: Argent
Life on Mars: David Bowie
Work to Do: Average White Band (funk masters from Scotland. They deserve to be on this list)
Stay with Me: The Faces
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: AC/DC
Rocket Man: Elton John
Somebody to Love: Queen
Your Song: Elton John
Over My Head: Fleetwood Mac (did I mention Christine McVie……sigh………)
After Midnight: Eric Clapton
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey: Paul McCartney and Wings (I really liked the Ram album. McCartney did well on his own)

Note to Shu....your list wasn’t easy to quickly edit. You’ll be in next time. I know you were rushed and hadn’t seen the full rules. Have a super time in Hawaii.

And anyone else can submit but, again, my only, IMPORTANT, requirement is that you try and put it in a format I don’t have to spend a lot of time on. And, remember, we’re talking 1960-79, a top 40 song or one that almost everyone would know.